Porous material of a polysaccharide and a method for preparations of such a material, wherein a water-based solution of the polysaccharide is mixed, with controlled stirring, with an essentially water-immiscible organic phase to form an emulsion, which when allowed to solidify, just before or during the gelling process, forms a network of two continuous phases, an aqueous polysaccharide phase and a flow-pore-forming organic phase, resulting in a material with two types of pores: small diameter diffusion pores and large diameter flow through pores.